The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) re-announces
the availability of funds for Administrative Supplements to NIGMS-funded
research projects. This announcement replaces NOT-GM-08-130.
These funds are intended to stimulate and support new multidisciplinary
collaborations among NIGMS grantees and other members of the scientific
community. Collaborations that bring together ideas and approaches from
disparate scientific disciplines are particularly encouraged, as are those
involving individuals from groups that are currently underrepresented in the
biomedical and biobehavioral sciences. These collaborative activities must be
within the scope of the approved aims of the parent award and are expected to
provide novel scientific approaches to the research plan for the NIGMS grantee
and collaborators.

Complex biological problems often require integrative and multi-disciplinary
approaches for their solution. However, individual laboratories may lack the
necessary breadth of expertise and resources to achieve this goal. The
collaboration of investigators with different intellectual and technical
approaches may promote the novel insights required to achieve significant
research advances. Large and medium scale collaborative efforts can be
supported by Program Projects (P01) or by single or multiple PD/PI Research
(R01) grants. Smaller scale collaborations also can lead to significant
advances, particularly when they take advantage of new information and new or
improved approaches. However, fiscal constraints may limit the ability of
researchers to initiate new collaborative efforts that would advance a line of
research during the course of a project. Therefore, NIGMS has developed the
Administrative Supplements for Collaborative Science (SCS) Program to enable
NIGMS-funded researchers to form new collaborations that were not anticipated
at the time of submission, review and funding of the NIGMS parent grant in
order to stimulate collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches to complex
biological problems.

Budget and Funding Information

A total of $3,500,000 is anticipated to be provided in
Fiscal Year 2012 for up to 25 awards. The amount that can be requested depends
on the number of collaborating groups. The PD/PI and one collaborating group
may request up to a maximum of $90,000 total annual direct costs. An additional
$45,000 can be requested for a second collaborating group, for a maximum of
$135,000 total annual direct costs per supplement. Maximum direct costs are
exclusive of consortium/contractual Facilities and Administrative (F&A)
costs.

Administrative Supplements are generally limited to less than 60% of the
Council-approved direct costs for the current budget year of the project or
under $140,000 each, whichever is less.

Eligibility

This announcement is for Supplements to FOA Research Project
Grant PA-10-067 (Parent R01; earlier versions are also eligible). R01 awards issued in response
to specialty FOAs, e.g. the EUREKA program (RFA-GM-10-009),
or converted to R37 MERIT Awards, also are eligible.

To be eligible, the parent grant must have at least eighteen
months of active funding remaining at the time that the supplement application is
submitted, and the research proposed in the supplement must be accomplished
within the currently funded award period. Collaborations must be newly
established, i.e. there cannot be a substantial history of collaboration within
the past 3 years. The leader of each collaborating group should hold the
equivalent of an independent faculty appointment in academia or group leader in
industry, and have active peer-reviewed grant support from NIH, other funding
agencies, or foundations. Exceptions may be granted if the collaborator is from
industry, a foreign institution or an allied field not traditionally supported
by peer-reviewed grants. The proposed supplement must be within the general
scope of the peer-reviewed activities and aims approved within the parent
grant.

IMPORTANT: The research proposed by the NIH grantee in the supplement
application must be within the original scope of the NIH-supported grant
project. The funding mechanism being used to support this program,
administrative supplements, can be used to cover cost increases that are
associated with achieving certain new research objectives as long as they are
within the original scope of the project. Any cost increases need to result
from making modifications to the project in order to take advantage of
opportunities that would increase the value of the project consistent with its
originally approved objectives and purposes.

Submitting an Administrative Supplement Request

To be considered for an Administrative Supplement, the
request must be signed by the Authorized Organizational Representative/Signing
Official (AOR/SO), and must describe the need for additional funding and the
categorical costs.

Submit one original, hard copy of the request packet (with original signatures
of the authorized business official) to the address listed below:

In addition, applicants are encouraged to send an electronic
copy of the submitted supplement request as an e-mail attachment in PDF format
to the contact listed above.

Requests should be submitted on the PHS398
Application Guide forms (font size and other formatting rules apply as
designated in the instructions), as indicated below. Include only the following
elements:

Cover
Letter which cites this Notice, and the following information:

Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) name

Parent grant number and title

Amount of the requested supplement

Name and title of the institutional official, and

Phone, email, and address information for both the PD/PI and
institutional official.

The cover letter must be signed by the authorized organizational
representative/institutional official.

PHS
398 Form Page 1 (Face page)

The title of the project should be the title of the parent award.

This Notice should be cited in Box 2, and the “yes” box should be
checked.

The Principal Investigator (PI) must be the same as the PI on the
parent award. For Multiple PI parent awards, the Contact PI must be the
PI listed on the supplement request, and the supplement cannot change the
Multiple PI team.

The remaining items on the face page should be filled out in
accordance with the PHS 398 application instructions.

PHS
398 Form Page 2

Note: The project “summary” is that of the Administrative Supplement,
not the parent grant.

A
brief proposal describing the project, including:

Scope of the overall project and the anticipated contribution of
the requested supplement (not to exceed five pages). The References Cited
section does not count toward the five page limit.

Provide a brief description of the scope of the overall project
on which the supplemental request is based.

Describe the supplement's specific aims, including research
design and methods, data analysis, and a description of each collaborating
group’s contributions. Describe the relationship of the supplement request
to the parent grant, how it will enhance the approved aims of the parent grant,
and why the work cannot be accomplished as part of the parent grant.

Budget for the Supplement with a justification that details the
items requested, including Facilities and Administrative costs. Note that
the funds need not be divided equally among the collaborating groups.

Biographical Sketch for all new key personnel(those who
are additions on the supplemental project).

Human Subjects/ Vertebrate Animal documentation (if applicable).

Include a current Human Subjects/IRB or Vertebrate Animals/IACUC
approval letter, if available. Otherwise, this will be required at the time of
funding. All appropriate IRB and IACUC approvals must be in place prior to a
supplement award being made.

Any differences in the involvement or use of human subjects or
specimens, or use of vertebrate animals, between the administrative supplement
activity and the parent grant should be noted.

When appropriate, details should be provided on the protection of
human subjects and inclusion of women, children, and minorities.
Additional guidance on Human Subjects Research and Vertebrate Animals is
provided under Part II of the PHS 398 instructions.

PHS 398 Checklist Form.

Selection

Administrative supplement requests will be reviewed
administratively by NIGMS Staff. Selection factors will include the following:

Relevance of the proposed activities to the parent grant

Adequate progress of the parent grant appropriate to the current
stage of the project

Appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals
within the timeframe proposed

Expertise of the research team proposed to conduct and achieve
the goals the supplemental study.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome within approximately
10 weeks of submission of the application. Summary statements or other detailed
critiques will not be provided.

Inquiries

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their plans
for responding to this Notice with their NIGMS program director. For
additional information or general questions, please contact: